Bsd. How many times was the root of inappropriate actions or words for that matter rooted in a lack of patience! If I would have waited a bitonger prior to tasting from forbidden fruit,the proverbial Friday night would arrive and wala let's make kiddush. As the expression goes its in the timing. Have a good one; h

Tonight I'm thinking to crack open a 2000 Capcanes Peraj Ha'Abib. I've still 16 bottles or so of the 2000 resting in my cellar, and if my previous tasting (4 months or so back) is anything to go by, I think the wine is probably at its best now. I hope to enjoy the rest of these over the course of this year. Though we'll see how many get polished off over Pesach.

I haven't yet decided what bottle number two might be tonight... I seem to have a fair amount that needs drinking up. I found a Recanati Special Reserve 2004 the other day and I know that wants drinking up (its been impeccably stored, if I do say so myself), but my old tasting notes suggest I might have missed the window for catching this at its distinguished best...so i keep delaying.

Nothing I hate more than pouring a once fantastic wine that has possibly past its prime and entered its anecdotage, even when it might yet be a glorious and graceful end. One of the downsides to guests expecting great things, I find, is that grace nearly always takes a backseat to oomph, and cutting commentary said of the wine, rather than the host, just seems so unfortunate and sad... Vosever (as they ought to say in Yiddish).

Joshua - please use Cellar Tracker, it has pretty good drink by dates, or many of us enter in drink by dates. Use the wisdom of the crowd and the database and drink your wine when you should, though the Galil 05 Yiron is failing me, thanks "crowd". Another to-do, always drink one a bit earlier than you think and gauge for yourself. Did not do that on the Yiron.

David Raccah wrote:Use the wisdom of the crowd and the database and drink your wine when you should...

Hi David,Thanks, but my problem is more about cellar (mis)management and sentimentality. I periodically lose track of what I have, especially when I'm down to one or two bottles, and there are more than a few personal favorites that get held back for some "special" occasion that doesn't always materialize on schedule.

It's been a long time (almost a decade I think), since I last used cellar tracker for reviews and I can't say I was so impressed...though in fairness, I think it was likely still in its infancy back then. Nearly everything in my cellar I have notes on, and I tend to prefer my own notes to anyone else's...I just have to keep up with actually drinking my wine. Such a hard life, I know...[sigh]. At least my even larger stocks of whisky don't encounter the same time crunch.

But that is only part of what CT does. Who cares about the notes, I do not use it for that! I use it to manage my wines! I can see all the wines I have, the types of wines I have, the dates to drink by, etc. As of to sentimentality, teach yourself, what is better a drinkable wine early, or an undrinkable sentimental wine?

David Raccah wrote:As of to sentimentality, teach yourself, what is better a drinkable wine early, or an undrinkable sentimental wine?

Yes, very pithy... I guess I should read Wine for Dummies or something similar to get up to speed. Still, I suppose having every comment potentially subject to school marmish correction ought to teach me not to bother posting with such personal foibles. Entirely my bad.

Ah well, saved by the bell as it were...licht bentching is approaching.

Recanati, Reserve, Syrah 2007: 97% Syrah and 3% Viognier aged 16 months in french oak barrels. Deep yet bright purple with barely noticeable sediment, the perfumed nose features some floral notes as well as classic plums, blackberries and leather followed by a hint of smoke. Medium to full-bodied (leaning to the full) with on the palate concentrated, sweet but controlled ripe blackberries and plums, then going to show some espresso roast, still nice acid and earthiness with spicy sweet vanilla and bittersweet chocolate as well as integrating tannins on the long and mouth-filling finish. Delightful Syrah drinking beautifully now. May have 2 or 3 more years before going belly up.

Some nice glass of Carmel 100 Brandy as an always enjoyable aperitif or digestif.

Shabbat lunch:

Finished the bottle of Recanati then with dessert:

Binyamina, Reserve, Gewürztraminer Late Harvest Cluster Select 2009: Deep, orange-ish gold with on the nose honeyed apricots, honeysuckle and sweet green tea with a not of ripe orange, full-bodied and sinfully viscous with on the palate spicy honeyed apricots and candied ginger to remind of the 15-20% or so botrytis-impacted grapes involved here along with candied guava, candied orange and good acid followed by notes of honeydew and lychees with a long and again viscous mouth-filling finish. Delicious and definitely one of the best kosher dessert wines.

2004 yarden ortal syrah. I decided to open my bottle after reading some posts that it is in drink up mode,. It was very drinkable and the nose was nice, but I have to agree that it is very ripe. It was totally undrinkable by Shabbat lunch.

Been in Israel for a few weeks. I got to spend oenologically quality time, as well as socially, with Gabe Geller, Lewis Pasco, Ya'akov Oryah, and Eran Goldwasser. A real treat all the way around. Lewis already reported on the trip to Midbar and Yatir.

All the wines were delicious. The only reservation I had was in the 2011 Dalton PS --- tasted delicious but too round and soft. The least interesting, although perfectly enjoyable, were the Tanya and Tzuba CS (come to think of it, the Tzuba had an unusual profile). The Midbar whites were quite a discovery although I heard loads beforehand about them; Lewis' babies are developing beautifully, although I --- in complete contrast to a professional --- have no sense whatsoever to project forward; the 2008 Forrest was probably the best wine I ever drank, as close to perfection as I can imagine.

The biggest surprise was the Tavor PS. We had it the evening after the trip to Midbar and Yatir. I came home from the trip thinking I could not face another wine (shows what an rank amateur I am), felt the same way the next day, but one sip of the PS had me back at it. This was medium bodied (so the light touch was more than welcome under the circumstances) delightful taste in harmony with the other components. A real pleasure.

2007 Binyamina Ya'alom (Diamond) - Contrary to the view expressed by Gabriel Geller, my wife and i both found this wine to be drinking beautifully, even the next day. No signs of deterioration, although I would say that it is peaking about now. Does it have 3 years left as per Rogov? Well, that might be a stretch. But I have no crystal ball. It certainly doesn't seem to have further improvement in the bottle. So unless one has stockpiled this, it's probably a purely academic question. I'm not a big believer in the value presented by the Binyamina premium series, but this wine was good. To me it is not a good value, though that's a subjective question.

2003 Corazon gewurtztraminer. I have to agree with Joshua: "Nothing I hate more than pouring a once fantastic wine that has possibly past its prime and entered its anecdotage". Our friends seemed to like this wine, but it has lost its zip.

Stuck to old favorites this Shabbos, with the '09 Peraj Petita (for some reason, didn't show as well as just a month ago) and the '09 Dalton Reserve Wild Yeast Viognier (not a bad bottle, but the Acid was MIA). I think this may have been my last bottle and not a moment too soon... I'll definitely miss this wine! Can't wait for the new vintage...

Carmel Appellation Series Cabernet Franc 2009 - I drank this wine over the course of the week and I'm as confounded now as I was when I first tasted it. My overall impression of the wine is that of one made of overripe grapes. The fruit profile is muddied and the oak and tannins don't help the wine develop a character. After my second glass I gagged. 14.5% AbV. C-/na/N

I also sipped through some of the open bottles from last weeks tasting, but I don't have any firm notes to add, other than to say that the Fiano di Avellino from Italy was interesting. The wine is not fruity, yet has enough to add interest and flush it out. Overall, it felt like a restrained Fume' Blanc.

I am showing deep withdrawal symptoms having drank my last bottle of the 2008 Dalton Viognier!! I am biting at the bit waiting for the highly anticipated release of the 2012 Dalton Viognier! Till then, I have some Midbar and Teperberg to keep me happy.